21 March 2014 - Coming into the world during the South Sudan conflict in one of the hardest-hit towns, some 88 babies have been born at the UNMISS base in Malakal, Upper Nile State.

Among the 51 boys and 37 girls, 41 were delivered at the UNMISS Indian hospital, 46 at the International Medical Corps (IMC) clinic, and at least one in a makeshift shelter at the protection site. Of the 88, two babies died of complications at birth.

The first baby was delivered alive and well by Indian doctors on the 24December 2013, when Malakal was first attacked.

“Apart from one baby who died, the rest of the babies delivered here were healthy,” said Indian hospital chief logistics officer Lt. Col Saurabh Bhardwaj. “We also had one set of twins and they too were bouncing babies.”

All expecting mothers were transferred to the Indian hospital before the IMC set up a reproductive health facility at the UNMISS clinic, Lt. Col Bhardwaj said.

Kelly Suter, an emergency volunteer nurse working with IMC, said midwives at her facility had been delivering babies since 29 January, when the corps began operating at the base.

“Out of the 46 babies, 28 were male and 18 were female. Included in that number were two sets of twins and one set of triplets,” said Ms. Suter. “Unfortunately, we had one death, but the majority of the babies were born happy and healthy.”

One woman, Rebecca Simon Deng gave birth to a baby girl in her temporary shelter at the UNMISS protection site with the help of traditional midwives on 7 February.

“It all happened so fast, but I thank God … I was able to give birth without complications. As you can see, she is healthy,” said Ms. Deng. ”I decided to name my daughter after the head of UNMISS, Madam Hilda F. Johnson.”

But the woman said giving birth in the internally displaced person camp was risky, as food and water were insufficient and the flimsy shelter left her and the baby highly vulnerable to infectious diseases.

“I would not advise anybody to give birth in this condition,” Ms. Deng said. “We need to eat nutritious food so that we can feed our babies. It is not easy to get that kind of food here and getting water is a struggle. But still I am happy to have this baby.”